Mr. Rajapaksa sought an order against the appointment stating it was illegal. The Court observed that the petition was not in accordance with Supreme Court rules and the petitioner had failed to produce a Gazette notification relevant to the appointment of Mr. Fernando.
Harin Fernando received the highest number of preferential votes 173,993 at the election contesting for the Badulla District on the United National Party (UNP) ticket. Shashindra Rajapaksa received 96,619 preferential votes from Monaragala District.
